# How many posters on SDMB actually have credentials to prove how "smart" they are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911 "2004-09-24T18:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/41 "2004-09-24T20:27:17Z")
Great. Just what we need. Another pointless attempt to equate intelligence with a narrowly and subjectively defined set criteria. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/42 "2004-09-24T20:30:34Z")
mhendo has no documentation. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/43 "2004-09-24T20:33:37Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > I object to the idea that it takes an IQ of 250 to fight ignorance. I donā€™t have to be smarter than _everybody_, just the ignorant people. Technically, you only have to be more knowledgeable than the ignorant people. But intelligence is a big help too, especially in GD and the Pit. šŸ˜ƒ Credentials, eh? I gotcha credentials right here: Passed the GED at age 17 (got one question wrong on the science quiz; had some time left over at the end so chose to retake the science part, and aced it the second time); Spent 2 years in community college learning to program and network computers, and many headbanging sessions since then learning how to program them _effectively_. Being an SDMB member for this long has to count for something. Since weā€™re fighting our own ignorance also, it would stand to reason that the more we participate, the more knowledgeable we become. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/44 "2004-09-24T20:41:54Z")
- Redhead - Great rack - Puts out Thems all the credentials I needā€¦ šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/45 "2004-09-24T20:42:06Z")
I am not an intelligent person, I just play one on the boards. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/46 "2004-09-24T20:42:47Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > Ya know, **msmith** , you could have put your cards on the table firstā€¦ I thought it might come across as ā€œhey SDMB!! Who dares challenge ME!!ā€ or something. Mostly Iā€™m just curious if there are people here who are like college professors or NASA engineers or nobel prize for kickboxing neurosurgeons or something. Iā€™ve been to Vault and itā€™s a lot of people with good schools and whatnot (or so they claim, I take everything with a grain of bullshit) but itā€™s very limited subject matter (what does Goldman pay?, what does Accenture pay, which B-school is best, should I go to law school, etc). Itā€™s not meant to be a contest or critique of SDMB or anything. For what itā€™s worth MBA - tier 2 school BS Civil Engineering - top 50 school (crappy grades thoughā€¦freakin hated engineering) Career mostly working for various consulting and technology firms. Pretty high IQ, High but not retardedly high SATs, GMATs. Rainman like ability to absorb movie and Simpsons trivia which I think puts me in the regular-smart not freak of nature smart category. > [@Ghanima](#): > > I raised a dog that is so good, strangers offer to buy her from me off the street and my relatives argue about who will get her if I die - does that count? hmmmā€¦did you genetically engineer this dog or perhaps it is some kind of robo-dog? otherwise no. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/47 "2004-09-24T20:43:05Z")
Kind of a tough call to define, isnā€™t it? National Merit Scholar. Top 5% on my years GRE tests. Highest GPA in my high schools history (less impressive than it seems with the people against whom I was competing). 20 years ago my IQ was measured (going into college) at 160. Run a successful (small) side business that is a dot-com and profitable. Career like a rocket until I decided to tone it down. Hmm. I qualified for Jeopardy last year. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/48 "2004-09-24T20:47:04Z")
I, for one, refuse to debate you unless you at least have a degree from [here!](http://www.sirroms.com/) ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/49 "2004-09-24T20:59:08Z")
**CBCD** : thank you for your links. Having perused them, I agree. You are an extremely smart[sub]ass[/sub] person. I salute you! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/50 "2004-09-24T20:59:20Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > - Redhead > - Great rack > - Puts out > Thems all the credentials I needā€¦ > > šŸ˜ƒ How _you_ doinā€™, O Wonderfully-Credentialed One? šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/51 "2004-09-24T21:03:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > **How many posters on SDMB actually have credentials to prove how ā€œsmartā€ they are?** I do. Unfortunately, they all add up to ā€œget over yourself, youā€™re not that smartā€. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/52 "2004-09-24T21:16:14Z")
_Iā€™ve added bolding in this quote, and some of the following quotes. I have also left out bits and pieces of the OP._ > [@msmith537](#): > > -Exceptional academic achievement - 4.0 GPA ( **real majors please** ), PhD in Astrophysics, a Wharton MBA or Harvard Law degree, perfect SAT scores, graduating college at 12, whatever Well, I got a 3.0, and graduated with a Technical Theatre major, History minor, both of which donā€™t count as ā€œrealā€ degrees, I guess. To bad I spent all that money. > [@](#): > > -Measureable intellectual ability - 250 IQ, Rainman or \*\*John Nash \*\* levels of intellectual superpowers I have no idea who John Nash is, so I guess I lost this one, too. > [@](#): > > -Exceptional professional achievement - Own your own successful company, **success in a highly competitive field like medicine or banking** , recognized industry expert I work in a highly competitive field, but I guess theatre isnā€™t a real degree _or_ a real job . Looks like my Dad was right. > [@](#): > > -Amassed large amounts of wealth (legit or otherwise which might make you a different kind of expert) I know a bunch of really dumb people who have amassed large amounts of wealth because they look pretty. Why does that make them smarter than me? > [@](#): > > -Numerous patents or inventions I give you [Arthur Paul Pedrick](http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk/pedrick.html). A quote from the linked page: ā€œPedrick was an extremely prolific British inventor in the 1960s and 1970s. Bursting with ideas, he clearly felt he had to share them with the world. After a career as an examiner in the UK Patent Office, he spent his retirement applying for large numbers of patents. The practicality of his ideas never seems to have troubled him, as these examples show.ā€ > [@](#): > > -Awards or scholarships I won a ā€œGood Citizenā€ award when I was in 6th grade, and received a very small scholarship to attend the University of Vermont (which may not be a real University) and study theatre, which may not be a real major (as noted above), or even a real career. > [@](#): > > Basically anything that proves to people that they are listening to an expert and not some guy at work on his lunch break or a bored college student blowing off homework. Because God knows one canā€™t be knowledgeable about something if they donā€™t have a piece of paper saying they are. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/53 "2004-09-24T21:20:40Z")
(Sorry - Iā€™m into hour three of a really boring conference callā€¦) I am trying to embetter myself and thought I would seek out accreditation from [this educational institution](http://www.californiaclownschool.com/). What do all you smart people think? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/54 "2004-09-24T21:21:41Z")
I would offer my credentials, but unfortunately theyā€™re unavailable. You see: [ul] [li]I tried to take the SAT, but I broke my #2 pencil. _ **WITH MY MIND** _.[/li][li]I was offered a membership in Mensa, but they rescinded it after I returned the offer letter, correcting their spelling and grammatical errors.[/li][li]My IQ has never been effectively measured. Every time Iā€™ve taken the test, it seems I haven answered not only the questions that were asked, but questions that the testers hadnā€™t even realized theyā€™d been asking all these years. They invariably become overwhelmed at the personal breakthrough, begin sobbing, and are unable to finish scoring the test.[/li][li]I was, unfortunately, expelled from several Universities as a ā€œdisturbing influence.ā€ Apparently the other students became enthralled with my gifts and caused them to focus on me instead of the professor for the duration of the class. Some of the more impressionable students in my entry-level courses were known to disrobe and lay at my feet, which as you can imagine was a source of concern to the administration.[/li][li]I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, but my dog ate it. In his defense, he explained later that he was ā€œextremely hungry and thought it smelled like bacon.ā€ (I had developed a serum that gives dogs the ability to speak.)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/55 "2004-09-24T21:22:09Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > (Sorry - Iā€™m into hour three of a really boring conference callā€¦) > > I am trying to embetter myself and thought I would seek out accreditation from [this educational institution](http://www.californiaclownschool.com/). What do all you smart people think? I think Yale is a fine institute. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/56 "2004-09-24T21:23:15Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > I am trying to embetter myself and thought I would seek out accreditation from [this educational institution](http://www.californiaclownschool.com/). What do all you smart people think? Send in your application! Donā€™t bother ā€“ itā€™s here. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/57 "2004-09-24T21:45:49Z")
> [@](#): > > -Exceptional academic achievement - 4.0 GPA (real majors please), PhD in Astrophysics, a Wharton MBA or Harvard Law degree, perfect SAT scores, graduating college at 12, whatever Well, canā€™t help you there. I was a 3.2 GPA Computer Science/Electrical Engineering major atā€¦a South West College. šŸ™‚ Nothing exceptional. My grades in highschool were unexceptionalā€¦frankly it bored me, and I refused to do homework which I considered makework and bullshit. > [@](#): > > -Measureable intellectual ability - 250 IQ, Rainman or John Nash levels of intellectual superpowers Canā€™t help you there either. My IQ was measured at 142 when I took the exam in the '70ā€™s. I didnā€™t even know the scales WENT that high to be honest. I think the IQ exam is all about being well read and being able to solve basic mathmatics problems well. My SATā€™s were in the 1480ā€™s which I took in '76/77 timeframe, but which I didnā€™t use until after I got out of the Navy. They DID get me a jump start as an enlisted man though. šŸ™‚ Again, good but not exceptional. > [@](#): > > -Exceptional professional achievement - Own your own successful company, success in a highly competitive field like medicine or banking, recognized industry expert I own my own IT company (well, with 4 partners) that employs around 100 technicians, engineers and office type personnel, and we do about $10 million in business a year and are growing. But its nothing exceptional and I doubt weā€™ll ever even make it to $100 million/yearā€¦not in my lifetime anyway. > [@](#): > > Amassed large amounts of wealth (legit or otherwise which might make you a different kind of expert) Not yet. šŸ™‚ My goal is to hit $50 million in personal assets and hang em upā€¦tour the world with the wife and have some fun. If I can get there by my mid 50ā€™s Iā€™ll be a happy man. > [@](#): > > Numerous patents or inventions No inventions or patents, though Iā€™ve writen some software in my youth that was highly valuable and profitable. I also wrote some code for the Navy when I was in and after I left that was used in a lot of their early messaging systems. > [@](#): > > Awards or scholarships Several but none really distinguished. I was awarded several citations for Desert Shield/Storm for the work I did for the Navy, and have a few business type awards. Nothing spectacular though. > [@](#): > > Basically anything that proves to people that they are listening to an expert and not some guy at work on his lunch break or a bored college student blowing off homework. Well, I seriously doubt many people listen to my point of view too carefully, so Iā€™m not particularly worried. šŸ˜ƒ I never try to portray myself as an expert on anythingā€¦especially since the things that most interest me Iā€™m certainly NOT an expert on. -XT ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/58 "2004-09-24T21:57:34Z")
Iā€™ve got a B.A. from a small college and a modest GPA to go with it. I used to have my seaman tickets that showed me being promoted to temporary deckwatch for a week after the AB deckwatch jumped ship, but I havenā€™t seen them for a while. I might be able to find some character references. Yeah, that Tom is a character. I guess Iā€™ve got no evidence that I actually know what I post. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/59 "2004-09-24T22:05:24Z")
I have a diploma from Berkeley, and a videotape of me losing on Jeopardy. But I was doing well for a whileā€¦Alex Trebek called me ā€œimpressiveā€ after the first round. Reallyā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911/60 "2004-09-24T22:08:11Z")
I have a five-year ā€œdiversityā€ fellowship to do my PhD. I am rich, straight, midwestern, and white. I think it indicates gifts in certain areas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-posters-on-sdmb-actually-have-credentials-to-prove-how-smart-they-are/265911.md?page=4)